I can’t help but feel very unsatisfied about the way the Eagles have approached the running back situation. While it wasn’t the team’s most pressing need in the offseason, it was certainly an area that needed to be upgraded. And all the Eagles have been able to do to this point is add Donnel Pumphrey, who projects to be a more of a Darren Sproles-type role player rather than a true starting-caliber back.
Sadly enough, the plan may be to repeat last season’s backfield approach of running Darren Sproles into the ground while sprinkling in Wendell Smallwood and perhaps Pumphrey every so often. It’s also worth noting that Ryan Mathews is still on the roster as of this writing, but I still think its pretty unlikely that he returns. Another guy to keep an eye on is Terrell Watson, who saw some action late in the season. With the lack of depth on the roster, he’s got as good a chance as anyone to carve out a role for himself.
This is the one area of the team where I feel like there absolutely has be another shoe to drop sometime between now and the start of the season. Maybe the team looks at a LaGarrette Blount, who is probably the top free agent still unsigned. Maybe they try to swing a Timmy Jernigan-style trade for a guy like Jeremy Hill on the last year of his contract. Maybe a journeyman type guy like Christine Michael makes Philadelphia his next stop.
But if the Eagles go into the season with Darren Sproles on top of the depth chart, I feel like that’s a failure on the front office. I know that the team had a lot of needs, and I give Howie Roseman credit for how he’s improved the receivers, offensive line, and defense, but in the interest of putting Carson Wentz in the best possible position to succeed, the team has to more than what they’ve done.
As great as Sproles has been, you can’t ignore the workload he’s got on his body and the number of years he’s been in the league. He’s done a remarkable job holding up, but he’s been defying conventional logic as it stands. Even if he’s got another season in him, getting 15 touches a game is going to wear him down quickly.
In a perfect world ,Denny ,wed all agree that ugrades at every conceivable position are desired. The running backs in this draft ,were deep,but,not without baggage in many situations. New England ,seems tobplug in guys ,albeit bradys at qb. I see running backs as lower hanging fruit and im certain the F.O. does as well..im confident that a between the tackles guy will emerge .Remember that we havent seen trades that may be on the table ..
imo we are fine at rb for now. we had the 11th best rushing attack last year, our issues were WR.
idk rbs are nice and all but are they really all that necessary to have a bonafied stud back there? rbs just arent that big of a deal to a team anymore. typically ur top rushers arent on winning teams…
id like a rb for sure and id like more talent but dont think its that big of a deal. but for $1 million guaranteed we should have signed charles
I agree with you 100%.
Doug is gonna throw the damn ball a ton anyways no matter what he says. 3 and 1s will always be frustrated. Red zone will always be frustrating. Maybe Clement can take that role going forward.
Looks like your Wrong Henski,
The Top 10 Rushers from 2016
1) Zeke Elliot – Cowboys – (13-3) Won NFC East – Made Playoffs
2) Jordan Howard – Bears (3-13) Basement of NFC South
3) DeMarco Murray – Titans (9-7) 2nd Place in AFC North- same record as Texans
4) Jay Ajayi – Dolphins – (10-6) 2nd Place AFC East – Made Playoffs
5) Le’Veon Bell – Steelers – (11-5) Won AFC North – Made Playoffs
6) LeSean McCoy – Bills – (7-9) 3rd Place in the AFC East
7) David Johnson – Cardinals (7-8-1) 2nd Place in the NFC West
8) LaGarret Blount – Patriots – (14-2) Won AFC East – Super Bowl Champs
9) Devonta Freeman – Falcons – (11-5) Won NFC South – NFC Champions
10) Lamar Miller – Texans – (9-7) Won AFC South – Made Playoffs
These Top 10 Runners were on Teams with a combined Record of 94-55-1 (63% Winning %) with 6 Teams making the Playoffs and 2 of which, were in the Super Bowl..
Only 1 RB from was from a Bad Team (Bears) even Teams like the Titans,Cardinals & Bills were competitive with around .500 Records
by winning i mean really winning like you know super bowls and playoff games… one year means nothing
i dont need to look any further than ap. guys been unreal his whole career with nothing in terms of real winning to show for it
This is fake news– its a passing league- the cliche for eagles fans is ‘run the ball’ we are ‘pass happy’- we had the 10th most rushing attempts in the league last year.
I agree with what Ray Didinger said…granted I am old school like him…”There is an old saying in pro football: If you can’t run it on 3rd-and-1, you don’t have a running game”…so the Eagles don’t have a running game. Matthews was the closest thing they had to one but Pederson benched him after he fumbled when his play could have made a difference during the crucial mid-season games the Eagles lost…making Sproles the featured back was simply extremely poor coaching in my opinion…unfair to Sproles and the team.
In Other News around the NFL
Carolina Panthers Release 3 year Veteran Safety Tre Boston as they trimmed their Roster after the Draft/Free-Agent Period and saves the Team $1.8 Million of Cap Space..The Eagles should take a real close look at Tre Boston who was a pretty productive Player for the Panthers on Special Teams and also as Safety and could be a nice addition as a 3rd Safety to the Eagles and definitely an upgrade over Jaylon Watkins.. Tre Boston is 6-1 205lbs, Runs pretty well and tackles pretty well and is 24 Years Old so still pretty young for being in the NFL as He had 3 InT’s, 10 Pass Plays Defended last Year as he Started 10 Games and and Played Special Teams…
I imagine the Redskins,Ravens,Jets and TB Bucs will take a look at him also…
We are completely fine at running back for this upcoming season.
That’s if Ryan Matthews is cut or stays. It does not matter. Sproles, Pumphrey and Smallwood will get there chances to shine and that is a good thing. Let’s see what the other 2 young
Guys got.
Jordan Howard and jay ajayia were all
Rookies and were among the top
Of the league in rushing.
We all know how running backs can be taken in the 4-7th rounds and UDFA and be special. It’s one of, if not the eAsist transition to make in the NFL.
Not to mention you can only fill so many holes in one off-season in the NFL. Why not make RB the last position to prioritize since the lifespan is the shortest?
Go RB LB and Oline next draft
I’m good with the rbbc and I see Clement making the team and being our power back, I really like this kid
Agreed I rock out with clement this year. If he don’t work out get a top draft pick at running back next year
I think we will all look back today as eagles fans and fans across the world on these last 2 draft classes howie put together and it
Will be the key part on why we will be contending for the next 10-15 years
This draft class just feels special. Howie went in saying “okay Carson wentz need weapons? Gotcha bitch”
Sure up the DT and rusher position and get some new corners in this roster.
Back 2 back amazing off-season for the eagles. We will be in the playoffs this season.
Get 5 times ur money if u go to Las Vegas and put money on us getting into playoffs
The NFL is a opportunity league with little difference in talent. Nobody on this board can explain to me what the hell Kenyon Barner did wrong not to be the starting RB on this team let alone not even beiing on this team. My eyes must of deceived me because all i thought he did when given the opportunity to play is make plays. There are Barners on every team. RB are a dime a dozen except for the elite few and its the easiest position to fill on a NFL roster. There are RBs available every draft.
right. barner is a damn head scratcher. every time he see him he making big plays
I’ll pass on a football player named Christine thank you……and worse yet pronounces it “Chris-ten”. If I were that dude I’d be using my middle name, unless maybe it’s Lisa or Nancy.
The Saints pro bowl center Max Unger expected to be out until October because of a foot injury. Howie pick up the phone and move Kelce for a 2nd or 3rd round pick.
Saints have Back-Up Center/Guard Senio Kelemete to Play in place of Unger
so they are ok for the short-term at the Position until Max Unger returns ..